


Until he...

by Ahhuya



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Gen, I'm not okay after all these days, S6 Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-17
Updated: 2018-06-17
Packaged: 2019-05-24 16:48:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 701
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14958386
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ahhuya/pseuds/Ahhuya
Summary: Shiro was dead, until he wasn't





	Until he...

**Author's Note:**

> Damn season 6 was a rollercoaster but I loved it. Anyways, I watched it right before leaving for con and now that I'm back from con and barely awake with exhaustion I wrote this mess before finally rewatching the new season :D

The first time he didn’t wonder if his team would be faced with an actual body or an empty cockpit. At that time it didn’t matter. He’d flicker in and out existence, floating between the stars in the astro plane. It wasn’t the first time he was dead, though it was the first time his body joined him. It was fine when it was just his name that died, just the thought of never coming back home again. His mind following that train of thought soon after. He never expected to see Earth again, or go back to space to fight a war he had only seen from the other side.

Back in the arena, death was a way out. With the last strike of the sword, all suffering from the war would vanish. But Voltron did not leave such openings. The horrible wounds disappeared in a cryo pod, memories were saved on board the Castle and now… now the lions took their pilots to the astro plane when their bodies were gone.

He didn’t want to die. Leaving his team behind without a leader was the last thing he wanted. Sure, he had expected to die many times before, but in the end he would come back from a freezing cold and fall into the arms of his teammates again. Now there were no hands to stop him from falling or to put a blanket across his shoulders to bring back some warmth that his metal limb had stolen from him. The astro plane didn’t bring comfort, and the Black Lion’s rumbles only made the stars move slightly, but never changed the view.

Perhaps being alone was the worst of it. The last time, Zarkon had been there, with the Black Lion jumping out in the end. Now surely Shiro wasn’t asking for Zarkon to show up again, he never did. He took it as a sign of victory, or the emperor would have come to erase him for good already. Black’s silence around him did nothing to help. The Lion was deactivated, and surely Keith didn’t want to take the spot Shiro had left for him, no matter how much he had tried to prepare him.

Until he did.

It took much hesitation, trembling fingers curling around the controls, to have Keith pilot the lion he was destined to. It turned out to be the first time where the astro plane didn’t feel lonely anymore. Keith’s voice echoed in emptiness, asking for guidance, guidance Shiro finally finds strength for to give. It would be the soft “no” that broke him again and the years Shiro had tried to prepare the boy for something great seemed to have never existed.

When Keith left again, the void took his place once more. It wasn’t a long leave, only short missions for the blade before he came back to save the day or look for _him_ again. With every single flight, the desire to break out of the astro plane or even to take Keith there and tell him he had been standing behind him all the time, grew stronger.

All until it was no longer needed, until Keith was sure that he had given the power back to the one it belonged to, not realizing how wrong it was.

If one thing screamed being wrong, it was facing himself. It was better his imposter never came to the astro plane, probably unable to do so without an actual life energy. Warnings never worked, never came through. The other paladins couldn’t come to him, and when they did, the distortion became too big to work around. Lance never heard him until it was too late.

Until Keith finally heard him again.

He hurt him, almost killed him before everything finally came to an end. He was fine with dying then. If he did disappear from the astro plane, then at least one person could tell the others what had happened. He could come to peace with that. Perhaps he had fought against fate too long, his favors from the world running out with every second.  

Until he opened his eyes one more time, and finally saw the beauty of the universe again.


End file.
